Beware your news sources. Writes Sam Allard of Cleveland Scene:
A New York Times report published Sunday revealed that hundreds of news sites cropping up nationwide are part of a growing media empire with content largely controlled by conservative think tanks, political operatives and public-relations executives. Ohio is now home to more than 50 of these sites, which are aimed chiefly at promoting Republican candidates, including President Donald Trump, and trashing their opponents.
This hits home for the Ohio Immigrant Alliance. A reporter from Mount Vernon News, Eli Chung, was instrumental in uncovering key details behind Morrow County Correctional Facility’s road to becoming a COVID-19 hotspot. (Read his story here). Now, Chung and other local reporters are gone from the staff, and someone from Atlanta, GA is writing about “local” news.
We believe in freedom of speech. That’s not what we are objecting to here. What we are worried about is that opinion articles are being re-branded as facts, adding the word “news” or “reporter” to a web site’s name, spreading confusion and misinformation. We also strongly object to the fact that more and more local reporters’ jobs are being eliminated, and replaced with people working in other parts of the country or even the world. No one who lives outside of a community can truly understand the priorities of a local community. And, the loss of local journalists and truly local news sources means we lose transparency of government and other people with insider influence. “Democracy dies in the dark.”
Instead of reading ads from the Ohio websites listed below, check out: Eye on Ohio; Cleveland Scene; Columbus Free Press; The Devil Strip; FreshWater Cleveland; La Mega Nota; and your local NPR affiliate.
List of Opinion Sites in Ohio Masquerading As News (Metric Media)